Misfits
by xaphanea
Summary: Quistis is feeling down because her loss of her job as instructor, and an unexpected meeting somehow makes her see things a little differently.


Author's note: This story takes place just after Squall and Quistis come out of the Training Center after the SeeD party. And don't think in any way that I am trying to pair up Quistis and Seifer... because that would just be wrong...  
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Misfits  
(This is a weird one.)  
  
Quistis leaned over the side, staring down at her reflection in the clear Balamb Garden water streaming throughout the main level. She sighed, trying to clear her head of the worries within. She had loved being an instructor... Instructor # 14, Quistis Trepe... she had been so used to saying. She said it with pride and honour as an Instructor of Balamb Garden. But to no avail. Although she was proud to be an instructor... nobody else was proud of her. She had failed... and she hadn't really had a chance to prove herself. Many of the students worshipped her... but more as a comrade than a teacher.  
Then there was those few students that didn't get along with her well. Squall, who respected her, but wasn't really conversational material. Seifer, who didn't much care for anybody, and was quite a smartass with her. Those two were very different... such unique persons...  
"Dear Instructor." Speak of the devil.  
"Yes, Seifer?"  
"What are you doing here all alone at night?" He inquired, Quistis could hear the smirk in his voice, that was how well she knew him.  
"Thinking. You do know how to think, don't you, Seifer?" She was feeling quite moody at the moment, but as soon as the words left her mouth she regretted how much she sounded like him.  
"Instructor." Seifer sounded fakely taken aback. "I am a fully trained SeeD Candidate. I don't think. I act." He stepped up beside her, but she refused to look at the familiar ankle length grey coat in her peripheral.  
"Have you ever felt genuinely cheated before?" Quistis asked absently. "As if... you didn't get a chance to show your strength before you were judged?"  
"Still depressed?" Seifer jumped to the right conclusion. "I know exactly how you feel. All the time. I don't have a chance to show my strengths when all the damn Garden says is to follow every rule exactly instead of my right judgment to act for myself." He shot her a cold stare, and she flinched.   
"Seifer please... this is not the time for a guilt trip." Quistis bit her lip. "I am no longer an instructor, so you won't have to worry about me enforcing what 'the damn Garden says'."  
"Really? Where did you go wrong?"  
"That's the thing." Quistis continued. "I don't know. They said that I lacked leadership qualities... did you think I... never mind, I won't ask your opinion." She changed her mind, already knowing his answer. He was so confident, and in a way Quistis wished that she had that sort of mentality.  
"It's okay." Seifer suprised her with those two words. "I think you were a great instructor. You have strengths where other instructors don't. I mean, look at me. I'm strong, and they're throwing me in the disciplinary ward. I'm on my way there now. Life is full of shit like that, ya know? Oh damnit, Raijin." Quistis giggled. Seifer frowned.  
"It's different with you, though." Her expression returned serious. "You have Fujin and Raijin. You guys are THE disciplinary committee. And although you do piss people off, you still have each other. You will always be together. I... really I have nobody. And teaching was my only consolation. I mean... there's Xu, but it's only a professional friendship we have. And Headmaster Cid... but that's also only professional."  
"Unfortunately, Squall."  
"No. Not even Squall. He doesn't understand the meaning of the word friend." Quistis spat rather harshly. "I was just speaking with him... he hates my presence. I... I don't know what to do, Seifer. I am now just another SeeD waiting to be dispatched somewhere... get paid for countless missions and... well... I don't know. Try and get by, I guess."  
"At least you are a SeeD. I want that type of freedom..."  
"You COULD be a SeeD!" Quistis cried. "You could have easily finished that SeeD exam, no problem. If you would have stuck to orders, and stayed in the square, you could now be in the Quad celebrating your new ranking. You would be an amazing Balamb soldier, Seifer."  
"I just realized that I wouldn't." Seifer's eyes seemed to glaze over. "No, I wouldn't make a good Balamb soldier. I couldn't possibly abide by all the rules... I'd be in the disciplinary ward every day." Then the half smile returned to his handsome face. "Hey, Instructor, we're both misfits here."  
"Yeah, I guess we are."  
"We should run away."  
"We should." Now Quistis was smiling.  
"Alright, let's go."  
"Where would we go?"  
"Into the sunset, wherever the road decides to take us."  
"You sound like a soap opera."  
"What can I say, I can be romantic!" Seifer turned her to face him. "My point is that you will always be 'Instructor' to me. Fujin and Raijin are my friends, but really, you have always been my superior. And it takes a lot of strength for Almasy to say that to someone."  
"Especially a 'mediocre Instructor'?"  
"Hm." Seifer pursed his lips.  
"Thank you, Seifer." Quistis put her arms gingerly around his neck and hugged him. Not because she wanted a hug, but because she believed that this neglected creature deserved one. She had known him for so long, and she wondered if he ever was a sweet little boy... every boy was at one time. She believed that the sweet little boy was still in him somewhere... she just had to find him. She might. Seifer hesitated, and then wrapped his strong arms around her waist in return. When she pulled away, he chuckled.  
"You going soft on me, Instructor?"  
"Don't even think it." She winked. "You better get to the disciplinary ward."  
"Yes sir."  
  
END 


End file.
